The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, defines the word Soul as: "The principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part."
Another definition given under the heading "Soul" is: "the animating principle; the essential element or part of something." Certain Jewish tradition states that every living thing has a soul. There is a vegetable soul, an animal soul and the divine soul. Each human has all three souls with the aspects of these three souls manifesting themselves at different times in everyone's lives, which I'm sure explains quite a bit about certain people's behavior.
Looking Within
Religion tries to save souls, while many of those people who worship at the temple of Mammon deny the existence of "Soul." There are good souls, evil souls, lost souls, departed souls, soul mates and jolly old souls. There are soulful moments, soulless individuals, higher souls, soul survivors and saved souls. Sometimes our actions cause us to do a bit of soul searching, but the soul is a funny thing because it hides in plain sight behind the mask of our corporeal existence, and though it is so close, it is also so very far away. Although much mythology regarding soul searching and redemption is devoted to long journeys which take the hero miles and years away from their home and loved ones, it is far more typical for one who goes soul searching to look inside themselves by employing any one of the many meditation techniques that are available.
The Role of the Artist
There is a line of thought that depicts soul, not as the essence of every living thing, but as a captive of the physical universe yearning to break free of its bonds. The soul of all living things is the quietude and remains enslaved by the tumultuous outer shell, or ego of the material world. Other than the spiritual leaders and some inspired politicians, it is the artists of this world that help us become aware of the inner life and help us free the soul from its interment within. Abe Lincoln gave a soulful speech when he delivered the Gettysburg Address; Martin Luther King did the same when he eloquently stated "I have a dream!" Michelangelo and Picasso released soul through painting and sculpture, Diane Arbus used the medium of photography, and Frank Lloyd Wright's method was architecture. Itzhak Perlman and Miles David released soul through music as did "Soul Man" creators Sam and Dave.
Release and Transcendence
Soul Music emerged in the late 1950s as a secularized version of Black gospel music and was popularized by such greats as Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Eddie Floyd, to name only a few of the "Soul" greats who managed to get to the heart of the matter and reveal the hidden force. The Beatles did it as well as the Stones and Pink Floyd to mention a few. Les Paul was a genius who released soul with technology as much as he did with music. Stanley Kubrick used the medium of film for his release in the same way that the Wright Brothers used airplanes. The release of soul is cathartic and rises above the vicissitudes of every day life and while some people use their voice and body to unleash their soul, others rely on technology to help them in their quest.
As engineers we are the latter. In our pursuit of release we call upon consoles, speakers, cables, power distros and a variety of other means to help us in our chimerical attempt to release soul. So, here I pose the question, "Can we actually do a soulful audio mix?" I don't mean just a great mix, but a soulful mix.
The Mixer's Input
Let's say we have the audio system of our dreams and nothing is lacking on the technical side. We know the rig and its capabilities with all its little nuances. The band we are mixing is great and capable of delivering a magical performance and we are poised, standing on the precipice of going deep into the hidden crevices where soul resides and releasing soul from its chains. Unfortunately, though the band gives a good performance, it's not a great performance, and while the mix is stellar, how can we separate the band's performance from the mix? After all, if the band gives a soul-lifting performance and the mix is only mediocre, will it hinder the performance from reaching higher ground, or will it just carry the mix with it? Can a mix have the same effect on a performance where a soul-lifting mix carries the presentation to a loftier place?
I'm not talking about technique. Everyone has technique. Using the same instrument the same three notes played well by one musician might just be on fire when played by another musician. Therefore, the instrument is just the conduit for the musician in the same way that the sound system is the channel for the engineer. While a good part of the audio mix is just opening the system up to let the program flow through it, the best part is that which we bring to it. Just to illustrate the point, I was listening to "I pity the poor immigrant," a song from Bob Dylan's 1967 John Wesley Harding album with the great Nashville drummer Kenny Buttrey, who somehow manages to make his drums sound mournful. Now we all know that snare drums on their own don't sound mournful in the same way we also know that sound systems don't have soul, therefore it is what we bring to it that can make what we do "soulful."
The "Soul" Button
Unfortunately, by the nature of what we do, we are in the position where the band is usually the focus of attention rather than the sound. If the band sucks, then there is virtually nothing we can do to make the night a more meaningful experience for the listener – no matter how soulful the mix itself might be. The only time we really get noticed is when we hit the proverbial "Suck" button and ruin what otherwise might have been a soulful performance.
Of course, it would be nice to have a "Soul" button that we could hit to enhance a sub-par performance of any given band. It might even be good to have the "Soul" button as a plug-in so it could be used on individual channels. I do not intend to imply that the use of the "Soul" button will make any band sound like anyone but themselves. James Brown and Otis Redding will not be channeled, but the band – whoever they may be – will be lifted to its own height of soulfulness.
As time goes on and we learn of more ways to apply the "Soul" button we might find that "Soul" needs to be attenuated. Quite possibly, as with a noise gate, it might require a hold and release control in conjunction with a threshold and range control just to fine tune it. Regardless of its application the "Soul" button would function in a similar fashion to an aural exciter, but on a much higher level. To market it we could even give it a fancy name such "The Soul Pump," "The Soul Patch" or, my favorite, "The Aura Exciter."
Illustration by Andy Au
